Category Archives: Guest Blogger

BEN ROSARIO: WHAT ARE WE AFRAID OF?

Benn Rosario

Ben Rosario

(Today, we feature a column by guest blogger Ben Rosario)

On February 2 I had the extreme pleasure to serve as meet director for the USA Cross Country Championships in Saint Louis, and we were fortunate to have one of the most talented fields for that particular event in a long, long time. The members of our local organizing committee worked their butts off to promote the likes of Chris Derrick, Shalane Flanagan, Deena Kastor, Dathan Ritzenhein, Matt Tegenkamp and more. I’m biased, but I think we did a pretty darn good job, and though it’s difficult to give an exact number, we certainly had at least a couple thousand fans out on the course that day. That said I believe it could have been even better. I think if the thousands upon thousands of casual runners knew more about the professional side of the sport then having those athletes in their own backyard would have been an absolute can’t miss event.

Earlier this week the Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced that Dathan Ritzenhein, who owns the #3 all-time marathon in U.S. history, will be back to run the storied windy city race on October 13. That’s great news and I’m happy for the folks at Chicago and I’m happy for Dathan. They got a valuable commodity that will bring attention to their event and he will be compensated thusly, I’m sure.

My pet peeve is this; why can’t we find out how much he is getting as an appearance fee? I am a sports junkie and I’ve probably read a thousand articles about professional athletes signing their first contract, signing as a free agent or being traded, etc. and  in each and every one I see something to the effect of , “The deal is reportedly worth $x,xxx,xxx.” And you know why we see that? We see it because people want to know. It is just one of the many things that makes these athletes larger than life to the rest of us. It is what puts them on a pedestal where granted, we sometimes try to knock them down, but they are up there nonetheless.

And yet we continue in our sport, even in the year 2013, to try and seem amateur. It’s leftover from the 60s and 70s and the days when runners would have to get paid under the table or risk their Olympic eligibility. News flash; we don’t have to do that anymore! I think we’ve made a huge mistake in this industry, and I was guilty of it during my days as a running store owner, of trying to make guys like Ritz seem like he’s just like “you.”

We tell people that they feel the same things he feels during a marathon and that’s what separates our sport from all those others. Well guess what…that ain’t true. What it feels like to run 2:07 is absolutely nothing like what it feels to run four hours and you know what…that’s okay. We can idolize the 2:07 guy and still admire and respect our friends, our neighbors, or our customers who run four hours. They are not mutually exclusive. The model is out there folks. Walk into any sporting goods store and go to the football section, then the basketball section, th  en the soccer section, etc. All you’ll see is jersey after jersey of famous players. Look at television ratings and see how NFL football completely rules on Sundays, Monday nights and now even Thursday nights. Sure we might talk about how these guys are overpaid prima donnas but we love every minute of it.

So what are we so afraid of in our sport? Continue reading →

HAVE RUNNERS CHANGED? PART2

     Yesterday we opened a dialogue with the question, HAVE RUNNERS CHANGED?  Throughout the day we received responses, including the following via e-mail:
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Toni,
     As someone who has beening running/racing since I was 15 years of age(now 45), it amazes me that today’s runner loves the act of running, but has no interest in the sport of running.
     I have been running with a group of competitive age-group runners for the last 14+ years.  On the morning of the US Marathon Olympic Trials just a few weeks back, they did not even know the trials were taking place.  While they may know Deena Kastor from the expo at their last large city marathon, they probably don’t know Desi or Shalane.  They only know Kara only because Adam’s uncle runs with us from time to time.  They haven’t a clue as to Kenenisa Bekele or Mo Farah or Haile Gebrselassie.  I doubt they even know the difference between Ryan, Meb, Abdi or Dathan.  I am not sure why race directors even pay elites appearance fees when the masses don’t really care.  They are more concerned about their T-shirt and how cool their medals look.
     Running has become a sport for an upper class where you pay your exhorbitant entry fee, you run the race and you sip a latte after.  While I have had some financial success in my life, I love the sport and miss the days of helping set up for a race, racing, drinking a post race beer, getting an award, helping clean up and heading home for a nap.
     I believe that the running organizations (USATF, RRCA, Running USA, etc.) can start by doing a pre-Olympic Trials, pre-Olympics or at the very least a post-Olympics tour to every race and running store to engage the average runner.  Just my two cents.  
     All the best,
     Doug Horn
     Boca Raton, Florida
 – “No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.”  Yoda-Empire Strikes Back (1980) Continue reading →

HAVE RUNNERS CHANGED?

     Thirty years ago most avowed distance runners still retained vestiges of the sport’s flinty, outsider’s origins.  We were a congregation of pain seekers bonded by the depth and quality of our gut-wrenched racing performances.  How hard you trained, and fast you ran, were blistered badges of pride held up against society’s more traditional conventions of convenience. Revolutions of the local high school track were regarded with more respect than the arc of one’s career track. Today, those times and that image have long given way to a spirit of tempered inclusion where running serves as a universal bond of health and community involvement.  Or does it?

Running USA staged its annual conference this month in Houston in connection with the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.  As a member of the Running USA board of directors, I had occasion to reach out to members of the running community to voice their observations (anonymously, to avoid recriminations) about the state of the sport.  The following perspective comes from a former race director, club organizer, and current running world vendor.

“Here in our little world I have been involved with our running club for over 20 years, and I’ve seen a marked difference in engagement by the runners over time.  New runners don’t know common etiquette.  It used to be that you could call out for help of any kind and lots of runners would raise their hand and say, ‘I can do that’.  Now it feels like there is much more of a ‘so-who’s-going-to-throw-the-next-great-event-for-me’ type of attitude.  

Likewise, I’ve been involved with a local trails organization, a terrific ‘professional’ non-profit with a true working board and paid staff.  It raises millions of dollars, creates both wooded and urban trails, raises non-motorized transportation issues within the community, grooms cross country ski trails, etc. They seem to have a lot of hands-on support from the biking and hiking communities, but they traditionally don’t get a lot of hands-on support from runners.  

I don’t think our area has a lock on selfish runners (sorry for the negative bent here) as I suspect we are just a microcosm of the national scene. My point here is that runners just don’t seem to be as engaged outside of their next run or when they are out of Gu packets, yet any cyclist always seems to know what Lance had for breakfast yesterday. The numbers (and dollars) are with the numbers of runners at races all over this country (a positive), but I don’t think any solution will be found for running’s ills until we find a way to truly engage the masses.  

It starts with a goal and a direction. There are lots of great ideas out there, but as we consider these great ideas every discussion should include the question, ‘how does it engage the masses?’ 

Just some musings for a Tuesday morning. Have a great day.  

Thanks to today’s guest for the observations.  If you’d like to add yours, either respond below, or contact me at toni.reavis@att.net.

END

RESPONDING TO THE CALL

In response to December 13th’s blog, TEAM USA ARIZONA Receives Grant from 2011 Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon, I received the following e-mail.  Rather than place it in the comments section, I thought it deserved a post of its own.  While I have railed quite consistently on this blog about the need to re-address the sporting aspect of running in light of the fun-run tsunami which has swept over the hinterlands in recent years – not in the sense that one should be sacrificed at the expense of the other, but in a win-win way - race directors like Arizona’s John Reich and Steve Taggert, along with Maryland’s Steve Nearman have actually begun putting words into action.  This then, from John Reich:

     Dear Mr. Reavis,
     I have enjoyed your articles on something needing to be done to save/promote competitive distance running.  I am writing to let you know I completely agree with you, and let you know what our club is doing to try to help.